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Ryan Reaves Announces Retirement

Originally posted on Pro Hockey Rumors | By Ethan Hetu | Last updated Sep 16, 2026 5:56 PM ET

Veteran NHL forward Ryan Reaves announced his retirement from pro hockey today, closing the book on the career of one of the league’s last pure enforcers. Reaves, 39, was an unrestricted free agent after his one-year, $1.35MM contract with the San Jose Sharks expired over the summer.

That Reaves was able to have an NHL career lasting more than 15 years and nearly 1,000 games is a testament to the ways he was able to impact games and impact teams despite rarely showing up on the scoresheet. The 6’2″, 225-pound forward scored just 66 goals and 140 points across his 962-game NHL career. He never scored double-digit goals in a single season in his career, and hit 20 points just once.

But as anyone who watched Reaves over the course of his professional career, dating back to his days in the AHL with the Peoria Rivermen, could tell you that looking at offense would dramatically undersell the presence Reaves was able to have in games.

Despite typically receiving very little ice time (he averaged just 8:43 time on ice per game in the NHL), Reaves made his minutes count by establishing himself as a feared, physical force.

He registered 3,225 hits in his NHL career, including a career-high of 316 during the 2019-20 campaign.

He has the sixth-most hits in NHL history, and is just one of six players to reach 3,000 hits in his NHL career since the hit stat began being tracked.

Although he played in an era where fighting has become an increasingly marginalized part of the game, Reaves still became one of the game’s most feared pure enforcers.

According to HockeyFights’ tracking, Reaves fought 96 times in his NHL career. He registered 13 fights in his first full season in the NHL, 2011-12, amassing that number in just 60 games played. In his 2010-11 rookie season, Reaves fought eight times in just 28 games.

As fighting became increasingly phased out of the game and teams increasingly prioritized speed and skill when staffing their rosters, the number of players willing to (or even capable of) taking on Reaves in a fight began to dwindle. Since 2018-19, Reaves has averaged just under four fights per season, well below what he tallied when he entered the league.

But even as Reaves’ ability to drop the gloves became increasingly de-emphasized, he still found ways to hold onto a regular spot on NHL rosters. Reaves broke into the league with the St. Louis Blues and after more than a half-decade competing on consistent playoff teams in Missouri, Reaves was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins. He was later dealt to the Vegas Golden Knights. In Vegas, Reaves was able to score two playoff goals on the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final.

Across his stints with the Golden Knights and New York Rangers, Reaves won a Clarence S. Campbell Bowl and reached the conference finals in four separate years. In what proved to be his final season in the NHL, Reaves served as a veteran mentor for a young San Jose Sharks team, scoring three goals in 50 games while registering 37 penalty minutes.

We at PHR congratulate Reaves for an exceptional professional career and wish him the best in his next chapter.

This article first appeared on Pro Hockey Rumors and was syndicated with permission.

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